


Tangled

by BarPurple



Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: Dark Castle, F/M, Floof Fluff, Pre-Regina's First Dark Curse, Pre-Relationship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-09-02
Updated: 2016-09-02
Packaged: 2018-08-12 13:56:03
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,215
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7937278
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BarPurple/pseuds/BarPurple
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Rumple has a run in with a Zephyr, but Belle can fix the resulting mess.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Tangled

The great doors of the Dark Castle opened with a bang and closed with a louder one. Belle put her book down and hurried into the entrance hall, the Master of the Castle was home and judging by his entrance he wasn’t in a good mood. She skittered to a halt a few feet from him and had to bite her lips to stop the laughter escaping.

Rumple was struggling out of his cloak which was a ragged mess, Belle wasn’t sure if her sewing skills were up to repairing that, but it was his hair that had her trying to hold back giggles. His normally sleek waves were a riot, sticking out at every possible angle, twisted around leaves and twigs; he looked like a very prickly dandelion clock. He finally freed himself from his tattered cloak and slung it away in disgust. Belle planted her hands on her hips, she was the maid, but there was no reason for him to make extra work. He looked up with a snarl as she tapped her foot and gave the cloak at pointed stare. The snarl faded into something approaching contrite as Rumple twirled his hand and the cloak vanished in a puff of dark red smoke, Belle was certain she’d find it later in the laundry pile, but at least it wasn’t cluttering the entrance hall anymore. She nodded to his hair and tried to keep the laughter from her voice as she asked; “What happened to you?”

“Ppft! A Zepher.”

He made to stomp past her, “Don’t you have something to tidy?”

Belle caught his shirt sleeve in her hand, halting him in his tracks.

“I most certainly do. Come with me.”

Rumple was blinking in confusion at the hold she had on his sleeve, his eyes widened as she wrapped her fingers around his bony wrist and tugged him along in her wake to the dining room. He told himself that he followed her out of curiosity, nothing at all to do with the oddly pleasant tingle her touch brought to his skin. She dragged him over to the couch and threw one of the cushions on to the floor before she sat herself down on the edge and smoothed her skirts. When he didn’t move she rolled her eyes and nodded to the cushion at her feet.

“Well, sit down. I’m not going to be able to reach your hair with you looming there.”

His fingers danced against each other, partly from uncertainty and partly to stop himself scratching at his head; the leaves were incredibly itchy. Was she really offering to fix his hair? Yes, she’d just pulled a comb from her pocket. He shifted ever so slightly on the balls of his feet, he should just snap at her and fix it with magic, which is what he would do; yes that would remind his little maid that he was the Dark One. Belle gave him an encouraging smile and he found himself twisting to sit cross legged on the cushion, a slight frown creasing his brow as he tried to work out where his plan had failed to happen.

“Scoot back a bit, I’ve only got little arms.”

The little hands on the end of those little arms were currently on his shoulders guiding him backwards. Rumple shuffled until he could feel the edge of the couch at his back. He swallowed hard as his mind caught up with the position he’d gotten himself into. Belle’s legs were on either side on him, her skirt was demurely covering everything, there wasn’t anything scandalous about this, but he could still feel a blush rising over his skin. He held himself rigid and kept his eyes glued to the fireplace as Belle started plucking leaves from his hair.

“What did you do to upset the Zephyr?”

“Nothing at all. It was a youngling. They think this kind of think is fun. Ouch!”

“Sorry that one was tangled in there tight.”

“Carefully dearie, or I’ll turn you into a toad.”

The threat lost some of its sting as Rumple jumped when Belle’s fingers brushed his scalp.

“You always say you’ll turn me into a toad, why?”

Rumple shrugged a little, “They are warty and ugly, most fine ladies are horrified at the idea of becoming something so slimy.”

“Toads aren’t slimy. I used to catch them with the other children in the castle. They’re sort of damp, clammy really.”

“But you wouldn’t want to be one would you? Crawling around, chased by children, eating slugs and the like.”

“I don’t think I have to worry about it. You’ve said you’d turn me into one a thousand times and haven’t yet.”

Oddly enough she was right, it was a strange feeling for Rumple, he wasn’t in the habit of making empty threats; he normally carried them out with devastating speed. His train of thought dwindled as Belle began combing through his hair with her fingers, tutting softly as she found each stubborn tangle. Her touch was firm, but gentle, a world apart from the last time anyone had combed his hair. That was lifetimes ago, when he’d been pushed into the mud by the village children and the Aunts had to clean him up. It had been a painful experience, but this was soothing. 

Belle smiled to herself as the stiffness eased from Rumple’s posture. He was relaxed enough that his head rolled easily on his neck with only a gentle nudge as she worked through each section of his hair. On a normal day Rumple’s hair looked oiled, but she couldn’t feel any trace of that as she worked out the tangles. It was very soft and fine. She frowned as she felt a tiny tug on her foot, glancing down she saw that Rumple’s fingers were toying with the lace of her boot. He probably didn’t realize he was doing it, she noticed that his fingers were often moving no matter how still the rest of him was. She’d put it down to a long lifetime of spinning, his hands didn’t know how not to move even when he was at rest. A strange fluttering warmth grew in her chest, she was helping him relax.

The waves of his hair settled back into place as she ran the comb through his locks. It truth her task was done, but she kept slowly running the comb through his hair until his head lolled back against her leg. She leaned forward and saw that his eyes were closed, his chest rising and falling slowly as he breathed. He’d often claimed that the Dark One didn’t sleep, but she’d caught his dozing once or twice in her months in the castle. She put the comb on the couch and retrieved her book, she wasn’t going to disturb him if he needed a nap. Rumple grumbled in his sleep and rubbed his head against her leg. Carefully she returned her fingers to his hair and began petting him, he settled with a sound that could only be described as a purr. Belle shook her head fondly, knowing that not a single soul in the realm would believe her if she was to tell them that the feared Dark One was a big kitty cat.


End file.
